


Sheets

by MissWonnykins



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Cuddling, Fluff, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 05:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11548560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissWonnykins/pseuds/MissWonnykins
Summary: They don't mind sharing a bed as much as you might think they would.





	Sheets

Despite what folks might assume, one rainy night in Alola was the first time the pair had ever slept in the same bed. 

 

Even Samson - a relative Gary himself hadn’t had too much experience with - seemed to have been under the impression that the pair had done adorable things like sharing the same bed when they were small. It was Samuel who set that record straight, saving both boys from having to stammer out their history. It was a lucky save, one they both appreciated.

 

And yet, there they were.

 

The hurricane had been forecasted long before Gary and his grandfather’s arrival to the islands, but Samuel had insisted that he wouldn’t be able to reschedule for another six months and they had pressed on anyway. The two of them were staying with the other Professor Oak, and of course this meant that Ash Ketchum was able to visit and spend time with his old friend and former rival. He, Kukui, and Professor Burnett would also be staying with Samson while the storm raged: Kukui’s home was far too close to the water’s edge to be considered totally safe. Thankfully, Samson’s home was large enough to accommodate all of his extra guests.

 

Even if it  _ did _ mean the two youngest members of the group would be sharing one room and its bed.

 

“I honestly thought you had before.” Samson explained apologetically from the doorway. Ash was sitting on the side of said bed, absently kicking his feet. His friend was busy sorting through the clothes at the dresser, hunting for pajamas. With a nervous chuckle, the old man held up his hands at his shoulders. “The way my cousin’s talked about the pair of you growing up together...well...we used to all the time, when we were small.”

 

“It’s fine, uncle.” The dresser drawer closed with a squeak, causing all three occupants of the room to wince. Gary turned back with his clothes over one of his arms, shaking his head. “We don’t mind. Do we, Ash?” He smirked at the other boy, who also shook his head and grinned.

 

Samson laughed softly to himself. Finally relenting, he put his hand on the doorknob and made to leave. “Let me know if you need something, boys. Sleep well.” A loud crackle of thunder filled the air above the building, and all three of them looked up at the ceiling with varying expressions of nervousness. “...Try to, at the very least.”

 

“Night!”

“G’night, Uncle.”

 

The door closed, the old man’s footsteps fading away towards the other end of the hall. Kukui and his wife were staying in the other guest room, and Samuel had the pull out sofa in the living room until the hurricane passed. The two cousins could be heard murmuring to one another from beyond the door. Both boys stayed resolutely silent; rain droned overhead. It was at the next, much weaker rumble of thunder that Gary cleared his throat and spoke. “I call the wall side.”

 

“Okay.” Ash’s shoes hit the floor with soft thuds, followed by his socks as Gary wandered to the adjoining bathroom. The bed let out a harsh squeak as the trainer flopped back onto it, stretching. “I can’t believe this storm. I’m sorry it popped up just as you got here! I was lookin’ forward to taking you all over the island.” He whined.

 

The light snapped on in the bathroom, door swinging nearly all the way closed - but not quite all the way. “We knew it was headed this way.” Gary admitted, raising his voice to be heard, “Grandpa wanted to come LAST year, but the way things get with the lab he’s gotta schedule these big trips way far in advance. It’s been a long time since we saw Uncle Samson, so Gramps decided we oughta tough out the storm instead of waiting another decade.”

 

“Decade…? So, the last time you saw your uncle was when you were little?”

 

“Yep!” The sound of the faucet running started. “And he came to us in Kanto, really, so this is the first time we’ve ever been to HIS house. It’s really cool...storm or not.” 

 

It sounded right after like he was brushing his teeth, so Ash kept quiet politely for a few moments until the faucet stopped running again. “Tracey ever talk to Misty?” He called, watching the light switch off.

 

Gary wandered out in his pajamas, tossing his armload of day clothes into the hamper by the door. “Pft. No.” He scoffed, nudging Ash’s legs. The trainer obediently pulled them up so that his friend could crawl across the bed without having to maneuver overtop of him. He settled with a huff down onto his front. “She did come visit us before we left, though. Said to give you a ‘hello’ and to tell you to call her sometime. They WERE talking for a little while.” He snorted, and Ash turned his head to look at the boy as he smirked, “I maaaaayyyyy have told her to stop by and keep Tracey ‘company’ while we were gone, though. Dunno if she has or not.”

 

“You’re so mean to him.”

 

“He lets me.” Gary retorted, finally working the covers up from between the wall and the mattress so that he could crawl under them. He finally seemed to notice Ash’s clothing and wrinkled up his nose. “Ugh...seriously? You’re not even gonna change? Gross.” The dark-haired boy tried to look offended, but failed as a yawn came out of his mouth. Gary promptly pushed a hand to the boy’s cheek and tried to turn his face the other way. “Eugh…! Your breath…!”

 

“No one asked you to smell it.” Ash tried to swat the hand away and failed. “Okay, okay! I’m goin’. It’s not  _ that  _ bad.”

 

His friend in turn pointedly pulled the blankets over his nose, glaring until Ash finally rolled off the bed and dragged himself into the bathroom. “If I have to lay here in the same bed all night with you - maybe for longer - I’m not gonna smell your sour, rank breath. Sorry.” Ash didn’t think he sounded all that sorry at all, but he had to admit that Gary had a point: if it were the other way around, Ash wouldn’t be too keen on the arrangement either. Out of interest for himself, he made sure not to just half-heartedly run the brush over his teeth...more so because he knew Gary wouldn’t hesitate to kick him right back out of the bed again. He was quite tired; upon returning, he practically fell into bed and was relieved when his friend didn’t tell him to go back and brush his teeth again.

 

Instead, he felt Gary pull the covers up over him and sighed contently. “You’re not the meanest guy after all.”

 

“I never was. I just don’t have any patience for laziness…” Gary replied, tartly. His arm rested across Ash’s chest as he settled back down. “Especially not with this being the first time in  _ how _ long I’ve actually seen you?”

 

“I kinda figured you weren’t that angry.”

 

“Don’t push it. I missed  _ you _ ...I didn’t miss your bad habits.”

 

A snap of thunder and a bright flicker of lightning came at once, shaking the building - both of them tensed up slightly and were silent for the next few moments. They listened to the wind howl outside and the rain batter the roof for a while after. The spell was broken by the faint glow that came from the corner of the room: In a large cushion on the floor, Gary’s Umbreon had roused herself from her nap. Gary shifted, propping his head on Ash’s chest so that he could see her. The Pokemon yawned, ending the noise in a huff that made Gary snort: Umbreon had seemingly become the resting place for Ash’s small group of Pokemon, including Pikachu. 

 

“I can make’em get up.” Ash offered, after a moment. As he spoke, Litten (curled up on Umbreon’s back) yawned widely and began to knead its paws into the space between the larger Pokemon’s shoulder blades.

 

Gary considered this for a moment, sharing a look with Umbreon before laying his head back down on his pillow. “She’ll be fine. I doubt she wants to go out into the storm, anyway.” To back up his assumption, the Pokemon put her head back down between her paws with a defeated sigh...and if she let her tail thump happily against the cushion, it was her own business. “She’s probably tired from babysitting  _ your _ Pokemon today.”

 

Instead of rising to the bait of the other’s teasing, Ash only nodded once. “They had fun, though.” He replied, shifting absently so that Gary could huddle closer under the covers. “They missed each other...Pikachu’n Umbreon.”

 

“Yeah, well, at the risk of sounding gross and sappy, I’m not gonna say the obvious.” 

 

“Nobody’s here but me.”

 

“I have a reputation, unlike  _ some _ people. Only takes one set of ears hearing me say something really dumb and cute, then it’s all over.”

 

Ash rolled his eyes and let them shut. “And I’m the weird one, right…?”

 

“You’re...unique.” More teasing. There didn’t seem to be an end to whatever barrel of it Gary had. In a more serious tone - a softer one - he relented. “You’re something else, that’s for sure.”

 

The glow from Umbreon’s rings finally faded - she had gone to sleep once more. In the ensuing darkness, the boys both merely listened to one another breathe. Just when it felt as though they would finally fall asleep themselves, Ash spoke up again. “So...should we say something?”

 

“About…?” Gary murmured, and Ash cringed a little - it was clear that his friend had been closer to sleep than he was.

 

“This. It’s like...a new thing for us. So...does that make it special enough for…?”

 

He trailed off, and for anyone who might have been listening in his pause made no sense at all. It even took Gary a moment before he finally got the meaning. “No.” He said, but carefully, “I told you...we’re not gonna start saying that yet.”

 

“This whole thing’s complicated.” The trainer grumbled.

 

“Welcome to relationships, Ashy-Boy.”

 

“When  _ can _ we say it?”

 

Another brief pause for thought. “I, uh--” A rare moment - it was rather uncommon for Gary to falter while speaking. “...I dunno. But it doesn’t feel like it oughta be  _ now _ .”

 

After a moment to consider things, Ash made a gruff noise in agreement. “Yeah, guess not. But we’re gonna, right?”

 

“Oh, yeah, ‘course.”

 

“So what should we say instead?”

 

The small laugh that came from Gary was genuine. “Uh, most normal people say ‘Good night’, dummy.”

 

“G’night, dummy.”

 

Umbreon’s own snicker joined Gary’s, and Ash felt a vague sense of triumph right before his sleeping companion pressed what was unmistakably a kiss to his cheek. “Go to sleep, stupid.”

 

“You gotta say it back if we’re not gonna say ‘the thing’.”

 

“...Good night, Ash.”

 

“Night, Gary.”

**Author's Note:**

> Another quick story I threw down - two boys who aren't comfortable saying three certain words with one another. Y'gotta give'm time.


End file.
